I love the word “Epiphany”; it is one of those words that can just roll off
your tongue. It also is a word that is not often heard in our day to day
speech. I think also that I enjoy the word because it is one that I learned
as an adult. Webster’s College Dictionary defines epiphany as “a sudden
intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of
some thing often initiated by some simple everyday occurrence.” It is an
“AH-HAH!” moment. We see it in popular culture in our cartoons where in one
section a character is seen with their brows furrowed, obviously deep in
thought then suddenly in the next scene a light bulb appears over their
head. To me though, the most striking image comes from a television
commercial which was popular when I was growing up. “Wow!!---I could have
had an Epiphany.”
Today we commemorate the earliest “ah-hah moment”, in our
Christian tradition, the baptism of Jesus.
Baptism
is and was even in ancient pre-Christian times a rite used to mark a
person’s change of status. It marked a significant occasion, usually entry
or membership into a select group. John the Baptist was performing this
ceremony at the time of Jesus, but he did not begin by baptizing Jesus. John
was, according to the descriptions we have, quite a character. He was a
prophet, definitely outside the religious power structure of the times, who
dressed strangely, behaved strangely and spent his time in the desert giving
warnings to people. John was “preaching in the wilderness of Judea, urging
repentance (rousing the people to change their ways) and baptizing people in
the Jordan River. His was a message of preparation.
But, the
act or washing or making ones self clean and presentable for God was
practiced even earlier in Hebrew rituals. The roots of this practice extend
at least as far back as the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. It is
recorded when Moses established Aaron as the chief priest, and was defining
the worship practices (this was in the desert after the Commandments were
given), where God instructed “bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the
meeting tent and wash them with water.” So we see this important ceremony
has very deep roots.
Water is
a central element of baptism, whether it is the water of a river, into which
one is submerged or water in a baptismal font from which water is dipped and
poured or whether the water is simply sprinkled. Water, as we all know, is a
common everyday substance. But water is, along with oxygen (breathable air)
one of the most necessary elements of life. We often take water for granted,
after all 70% of the earth’s surface is covered with water and between
60-70% of our human bodies are composed of water, very common and very
necessary. But science tells us that water, even though an abundant
substance, is anything but ordinary. Water has several characteristics that
make our physical existence possible. First, the chemical reactions required
to sustain life need a fluid to operate. Getting molecules to move from one
place to another (which is needed for life and growth) in a solid substance
is a difficult and slow process. The same processes within a gas are too
easy. Vapor based life would simply float to pieces.
But why
is water the best liquid for the job of sustaining life. For one thing, it
dissolves just about anything to some degree, so nutrients necessary for
life can be transported to all parts of a living body. Water is one of the
few substances that naturally occur in a liquid state under the conditions
of temperature and pressure found on our planet’s surface. Water, mercury
and liquid ammonia are the only naturally occurring inorganic liquids. That
is, they arise not from organic growth. Of these, water is only chemical
compound that occurs naturally on Earth’s surface in all three physical
states: solid, liquid, and gas. Water has one other unusual property that
means all the difference between life and essentially “no life”, especially
in cold regions of the planet. Unlike most other liquids when they freeze,
water expands and becomes less dense. Most other frozen liquids are denser
than their melted selves and thus sink. If it sank, ice would be unable to
melt because of the insulating layer of liquid water above it. The lakes and
oceans would slowly fill with ice from the bottom up, starting in cold
climates, making sea life; and our lives, a challenging prospect. But we
often take water for granted.
If we
consider the uniqueness and importance of water for life, the roots of
baptism (actually the main root or tap root) can be traced even further back
in our history with God. In the very first chapter of Genesis the connection
is made. “In the beginning God---in the beginning God created the heavens
and the earth. And the Spirit of God—the Spirit of God was hovering over the
surface of the waters.” Back to the very beginning, before the beginning of
life even is the first connection between water and God’s Spirit.
The rite
of Baptism is a central element to the Christian faith as we practice it.
Baptism is performed with water – which we now know is a “not really
ordinary” substance. The other two aspects of Baptism are God and us. By
being baptized, we or our parents or guardians are deliberately and publicly
acknowledging God and accepting our place as God’s children. We are opening
the doorway.
The
Episcopal catechism from which Loreen teaches us as we seek a deeper
knowledge says this:
Q.
What is Holy Baptism?
A.
Holy Baptism is the sacrament by which God adopts
us as his children and makes us members of Christ’s Body, the Church, and
inheritors of the kingdom of God.
Q. What
is the outward and visible sign in Baptism?
A.
The outward and visible sign in Baptism is water,
in which the person is baptized in the Name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
Q. What
is the inward and spiritual grace in Baptism?
A.
The inward and spiritual grace in Baptism is union
with Christ in his death and resurrection, birth into God’s family the
Church, forgiveness of sins, and new life in the Holy Spirit.
Baptism is a sacrament. That means that it contains a
sacred character, a mysterious element. This takes us to the Epiphany – that
historical “ah- hah moment”.
John,
that odd character in the desert, was talking about change. Inner change of
heart on the part of his listeners and then what happened? Jesus came to him
– in the middle of the huge crowds who were clamoring for change, for
betterment of their personal lives, and a closer connection to God. This is
what John offered these people; a change of heart would bring a closer
connection to God.
John
though, when Jesus came to him to be baptized, immediately recognized Jesus’
total connection to God and at first declined to perform the ritual, saying
“You should be baptizing me”. Jesus however, persisted and convinced John
that it was the right thing to do.
Now
comes the good part, the Epiphany – “just as Jesus came up from the water,
the heavens were opened, the Spirit of God descended like a dove and
alighted on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved,
with whom I am well pleased.”
That
exact moment connected again, the water and God’s spirit, just as it was
connected in the beginning.
That
exact moment was the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. Peter proclaimed
it in our reading from Acts, “You know the message he sent---after the
baptism---God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with
power; and he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by
the devil, for God was with him.”
That
exact moment marked the expansion of God’s covenant from the physical
descendents of Israel to all people. One again as Peter said, “I truly
understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who is
in awe of God and does what is right is acceptable to God.”
That
exact moment marked God’s adoption of us into the family.
Today, we will celebrate the sacrament of baptism
in which ____________ and ________________ will be initiated into our
spiritual family. They will join us, and all Christian believers, as adopted
children of God. We will, as part of this rite, reaffirm our own connection
to God and we will, once again, pledge to support one another and strengthen
God’s family.
Really
there is nothing mysterious about baptism; at least nothing more mysterious
and wonderful than God’s love and acceptance of us; nothing more mysterious
and wonderful than a simple three atom molecule that forms a very ordinary
substance - water.
Amen
************
Today, as we each recall our own baptism, let us
remember that we, and all Christian believers, are adopted children of God.
Let us remember and reaffirm our own connection to God and pledge to support
one another and strengthen God’s family.